Coastal Volleyball Season Comes to an End

Charleston, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team won the first set handily, but was unable to hold onto the momentum as Winthrop won the next three sets to take the match 3-1 in the opening round of the Big South Tournament on Thursday, Nov. 17, in Charleston, SC.

Coastal jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first set following a service ace by Winthrop and two kills by freshman Lian Bernett. The Chants built a five-point lead following an attack error by the Eagles to put the score at 7-3. Coastal extended their lead to eight points after Winthrop recorded another service error to put the score at 15-7. The Eagles then went on a 4-1 run to pull within four points of the Chants at 16-12. Winthrop came within three points of Coastal on a couple of occasions, but would not get any closer as the Chants took the opening set 25-20.

Sophomore Sam Skryd opened up the second set with a service ace to give Coastal the 1-0 advantage. Winthrop tied the set up on the ensuing point following a kill by Carolyn Weed and the Eagles took their first lead at 2-1 on a kill by Stephanie Palmer. The score remained close until Winthrop used a 5-1 run to take a 14-10 lead. Coastal responded with a 3-1 run to make it a 15-13 game. The Chants came within two points of the Eagles on one additional occasion, but Coastal was unable to get any closer as Winthrop tied the match up at one apiece following a 25-16 win in the second set.

Winthrop took a 3-1 lead over the Chanticleers to start the third set, but Coastal tied the score at 4-4, after sophomore Kindra Bailey recorded a kill, the Eagles posted an attack error and sophomore Lindsay Gill tallied a service ace. The Eagles then went on a 6-2 run to build a 10-6 advantage. Bernett made it a 12-11 game following a service ace. Coastal came within one point of Winthrop a couple of plays later, as Bailey registered a kill to put the score at 13-12. Winthrop built a four-point lead, but the Chants closed the gap quickly, as they used a 4-0 run to come within one of the Eagles at 21-20. Coastal came close to tying the set up on multiple occasions, but the Eagles came away with 25-23 win after Becca Toor notched a kill.

During the fourth set, Winthrop scored four of the first five points to go ahead 4-1. The Eagles then posted an attack error before senior Erika Lightsey tallied a kill to put Coastal within one point of the Eagles. Winthrop used a 4-1 run to take their largest lead of the set at 8-4. Winthrop extended their lead to 10 points following an 8-1 run, which made it a 16-6 game. Coastal earned the next two points after the Eagles recorded two errors. The Chants were unable to make a run, while Winthrop used a 5-1 run to close out the set and take a 25-13 win.

Lightsey finished the match with a double-double, as she posted 10 kills and 10 digs on the evening. Bailey led the team in kills with 12, as well as in blocks with six, while Gill had a team high of 19 digs and two service aces. Skryd finished the match with 31 assists.

Toor led Winthrop in kills with 16 and also posted a team-high four blocks, along with Jennica Mullins. Catherine Bruise grabbed 18 digs and Palmer ended the night with 47 assists.

The Chants ended the season with a 13-20 record, while going 5-9 in conference play.